KUWAIT CITY, Jan 2, (Agencies): The Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry on Saturday asked Kuwaiti nationals wishing to travel abroad to postpone their plans due to growing numbers of Covid-19 infections worldwide. In a press statement, the ministry said that the surge in virus cases leads to a high risk of infection and forces countries to change health guidelines and measures to fight this increase, including looming lockdown and flight delay or cancellation, thus making it difficult for people to travel.

Kuwait on Sunday said 609 more people tested positive for COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, taking the country’s caseload to 418,332, health ministry data showed. Some 114 more people recovered from the viurs to up the number of those to have overcome the disease to 411,902, according to ministry spokesman Dr. Abdullah Al-Sanad, adding that the recovery to positive case ratio stands at 98.5 percent. The death toll from the pandemic remained unchanged at 2,468, while 27 people are hospitalized with the virus, five of whom need intensive care, he told KUNA. Some 18,767 swab tests were conducted over the last day, out of a total of 6,002,841 so far, added the spokesman.

Vaccination against the coronavirus on Jaber Bridge medical center was halted on Sunday due to stormy and rainy weather, the Ministry of Health declared in a statement. The immunization was stopped out of keenness on peoples’ safety, the MoH said alluding to the stormy weather, distinguished with torrential rain and roaring gale winds. The makeshift center, established on the bridge, started on December 26, providing the booster shot against COVID-19 without an advance appointment from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m. every day except for Saturdays. Jaber Bridge, one of Kuwait’s lately constructed iconic sites, stretches for many nautical miles across Kuwait Bay.

Kuwait Consulate in Jeddah on Sunday advised its nationals living in the western region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to stick to the health protocols and precautions outlined by the Saudi authorities for their safety.

The consulate called on its nationals who might need help to contact it at any time around the clock via the phone No.: 00966535571133 Kuwait Embassy in Britain calls citizens to postpone travel due to increase of Omicron cases Kuwait Embassy to the United Kingdom on Sunday called on citizens to stick with Foreign Ministry’s recommendations to postpone coming to the UK due to mounting Omicron cases. In a statement, the embassy advised Kuwaiti citizens in the UK to return home as a result of strong acceleration of Omicron cases’ spread daily, which may lead to partial or total lockdown. The embassy urged the citizens that in case of sudden emergency never hesitate to call the hot line 02075902400. The U.K. government has been making contingency plans in case hospitals, schools and other workplaces are hit by major staff shortages amid the country’s record-breaking spike in coronavirus infections.

Public sector workplaces have been preparing for staff absences ranging from 10% to 25% as COVID-19 sickens more people or forces them to isolate, the Cabinet Office said. The highly transmissible omicron variant has caused Britain’s daily new caseload to soar over Christmas and the New Year, with a new daily high of 189,000 on Dec. 31. About 1 in 25 people in England - or about 2 million people - had COVID- 19 in the week before Christmas, the Office of National Statistics estimated. In London, the figure was 1 in 15. Cabinet Office Minister Stephen Barclay said there had already been “significant” absences and the government was preparing for “every eventuality”.